Etymologically
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souvent

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /su.vɑ̃/[1]

Forms

souvent[1] Old French sovent (about 1050), suvent (1080); souvent from the 13th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sovent, inherited from Latin subinde (“immediately after; repeatedly; often”), formed from sub- and inde (“from there; from then”).[5][2][6][7][1] Classical Latin saepe (“often”) disappeared from all the Romance languages; it was entirely gone by the “Peregrinatio Aetheriae” (381–388).[6][5] “Inde” also gave the pronoun en.[2]

Cognate with Occitan soven and Catalan sovint, Italian “sovente” is borrowed, the native word being “spesso”.[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis, meaning “several times, repeatedly”.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it also meant “constantly” (about 1283), and suvent… suvent “now… now” (about 1155).[2] Plus suvent is recorded in the early 12th century, and le plus souvent “most of the time” in 1538, when souvent also took the general sense “in many cases”.[5][2] In familiar speech le plus souvent ! (1808), then plus souvent ! (1821, written pu souvent), became an ironic “certainly not!”, and plus souvent que expressed refusal (1807).[2][5][4] The old souventes fois, souventefois, is now regional.[6][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Sovent in the Vie de saint Alexis.[5]
  • Early 12th century – Plus suvent, in Benedeit.[5]
  • 12th century – Souventefois.[6]
  • 1538 – Le plus souvent, in Robert Estienne.[5]
  • 1808 – Le plus souvent ! “certainly not!”.[2][9]
  • 1821 – Plus souvent !.[2]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. often, frequently: il vient souvent.[10][1]
  2. In many cases: c'est bien souvent le cas, le plus souvent: mostly.[10][2]
  3. Plus souvent qu'à son tour: more often than one should.[10]
  4. (popular, dated) Plus souvent !: certainly not![10][9]

Word family

  • souventefois

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 333a
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert